Ask Joe: Who gets passes for Kingsbury Grade road work?

Question:From the Ask Joe file, a question from a viewer about a big road construction project underway right now.Lisa Carranza wrote in asking about the construction on Kingsbury Grade. She is wondering why permits are being sold to some residents so they can come and go?

Answer:Kingsbury Grade is also known as Highway 207. The road runs from Douglas County to Highway 50 at Stateline.Joe checked with Meg Ragonese at NDOT. She said there are no permits being sold. NDOT has issued, at no charge, key cards to about 1,800 residents and business owners on Kingsbury Grade. The key cards allow those people to come and go during the peak construction periods. Those peak periods are three weeks in May, and three weeks in September. During the summer, construction will only be done at night. Basically the cards were issued for convenience, but also to ensure that businesses in the Carson Valley would not be impacted by the construction.By working around the clock during the months of May and September, Ragonese said they are able to cut down the overall construction timeline in half, from three years to just a year and a half. That means construction on Kingsbury should wrap up in July of next year.